Block 67 proposal includes apartments, office building, and (potentially) a grocery store

Posted onJune 21, 2018 Edit on by Justin Pot

Block 67, better known as the former Hanks Thriftway site, is shaping up to be a mixed use development with office space, apartments, and potentially a small grocery store in the vein of Trader Joes.

Project^, the developers chosen by the City of Hillsboro to build out the city-owned lot, outlined their proposal to City Council on Tuesday, June 19. The plan, subject to revision pending feedback from city officials, includes:

  • 100,000 square feet of medical office space.
  • 217 apartments split between three buildings.
  • 4,500 feet of retail space.
  • 420 underground parking spots.

Here’s what that looks like in a rendering Project^ provided to the city:

And here’s an overhead view.

The design is intended to change the face of downtown, according to Tom Cody of Project^.

“It’s our thought that having hyper mixed use with apartments along with retail and maybe daycare… you begin to create a more vibrant downtown, a more vibrant city center,” Cody told council members.

Jonathan Ledesma, also from Project^, said the design tries to transition between the large medical buildings to the south of the lot and the small residential buildings to the north.

“We wanted a gradient from the large public buildings to the smaller private buildings,” he told City Council.

Reactions to the plan were mixed. Councillor Anthony Martin expressed surprise at how few apartments there were.

“I’m just surprised at how conservative it is,” said Martin.

Cody, responding to Martin, stressed that the proposal was a starting point.

“What we’ve tried to establish is a baseline of a mix of key program drivers that will bring something new to downtown…something special. We feel like having at least 200 units of housing is vital in that alchemy,” said Cody. “If as time goes by we feel like there’s more demand…we want to be responsive to that.”

Cody also said that while the apartments were designed to be affordable, they will be sold at market rates.

Multiple councillors questioned the underground parking. Martin called the plan “aggressive,” multiple councillors worried about cost, and Councillor Fred Nachtigal questioned whether Hillsboro residents would even want to park underground. Project^, for their part, said underground parking is “vital to the concept.”

Which is all to say that the shape of this thing could change yet. The meeting concluded with a rough timeline: Project^ will refine their proposal now in preparation for public outreach in July/August, after which the development agreement could be reached. We’ll be watching this one closely.

More Info

  • First, here are some more renderings shown during the presentation: